Coin control device



Sept. 2, 1941. c. A. TOCE ET'AL 2,254,460

I COIN CONTROL DEVICE Filed July 25, 1938 5E WEE-2' Z0 I CHARLES ATOCE Z25 25 24 E BRoussARo 52 I 40 a Z6 ROBERWALTER HOLLAN D m I r "a "I," Z I4 INVEffDZSuau 17 .5. *imfifiuk ATTORN EYS.

Patented Sept. 2, 1941 COIN CONTROL DEVICE Charles A. Toce, Robert F,Broussard, and Walter Holland, Houston, Tex., assignors, by mesneassignments, to International Vehicular Parking, Ltd., Washington, D.0., a corporation of Delaware Application July 23, 1938, Serial No.220,850

5 Claims.

The invention relates to a coin operated or coin controlled mechanismwhich may be attached to various types of machines inorder toinitiatetheir operation by the insertion of a coin or colns.

In many instances where a machine is to be operated by a coin the personintending to operate the machine does'not have a coin of the correctdenomination and it. is necessary to obtain the correct coin or else themachine cannot be operated, and it is one of the objects of the presentinvention to provide a machine which is capable of receiving other coinsin lieu of the coin usually required for that machine's operation, sothat there can be no question raised as to the legality of the machinedue to the fact that it is incapable of accepting coins which areconsidered as legal tender.

It is one of the objects of the invention to provide a machine which canbe operated either by five pennies or-by a nickel.

Another object of the invention is to provide a mechanism which may beoperated by a plurality of coins of one denomination or a single coin ofanother denomination.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus whichwill receive coins of at least two difierent denominations in order toin itiate its operation.

Another object of the invention is to provide a control apparatuswherein coins of one denomination are directed to actuate the machineimmediately, whereas a plurality of coins of another denomination willbe accumulated until a predetermined number of them have been received,whereupon the machine will then be actuated.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an arrangementwherebya trigger will be actuated by a coin of one denomination or apredetermined one of a plurality of coins'of another denomination.

It is 'also an object of the invention to deflect a predetermined (meeta plurality of coins past a trigger mechanism so as to actuate thedevice. It is also an object of the invention to provide a trap for aplurality of coins in combination with a release, which release will beactuated whenever the device is actuated. v

Other and further objects of the invention will be readily apparent whenthe following description is considered in connection with theaccompanying drawing wherein: Fig. l is a side elevation of an apparatuscone.

structed for insertion in the machine where it, is

. which are used in connection with parking meto be utilized and showingcertain of the parts.

in section.

Fig. 2 is a back view of the construction'shown in Fig. 1 andillustrating the power drive which is released by the device.

Fig. 3 is a section taken on the line 33 of Fig. 1.

In Fig, 1 a base plate 2 is shown as serving as a support for themechanism and it is to be understood that this plate may be attached toany desired type of machine which is to be actuated or controlled by theinsertion of a coin.

There are almost innumerable types of apparatus which may be operated bya coin in this manner, such as various types of vending machines,admittance mechanisms, and other devices. The present invention,however, particularly lends itself to coin controlled mechanisms I by asingle coin. .As an instance? of this, parking meters are usuallyoperated by'a single coin,

such as a nickel. Five pennies, of course, are

legal tender and equal the: amount of a nickel, and it is, ther 'fore,intended to provide an apparatus whichgcan be operated by the fivepennies as well as by a nickel. Another instance would be, if the amountto be inserted were ten cents, either a dime, two nickels, or tenpennies,

or one niclrel and five pennies would be legal tender for the ten cents,and it is intended that the present invention shall embody machines toaccommodate these and other various combinations of coins.

Fig. 1 is wherein the plate 2 in combination with the foundation member3 serve as a frame-work of the. various chutes to control the movementof the coins which are inserted. The frame and the baseplate areconnected together by the screws 4 and, of course, these parts will takevarious configurations, depending upon the denomination of the coinswhich are to be inserted in the particular machine.

As seen in Fig. 1, the chute 5 is arranged for the insertion of the coinand it extends laterally and downwardly so that the coin will roll bygravity along the bottom'li thereof. I

I This mechanism is arranged to be actuated by illustrative of anarrangement 1 illustration may be described as a nickel or live centpiece.

a stop shoulder 8 is provided in the base I aces-sec and is positionedat'such an elevation that a'coin such as a nickel cannot passthereby-but will be stopped in the dotted line position shown at the topof Fig. 1. In this position the coin is resting upon the arm 9 of theswitch I 0. This switch is an eccentric arm pivoted at H and including aweight portion l2 which will be overbalanced by the weight of coin I sothat it will tilt to the dotted line position and allow the coin to passdown to the dotted line position [3 within the chamber I 4. Thus, thecoin will roll along the inclined surface I 5 in the chamber l4 and willpass into the restricted area". Projecting into the passage I1 is atrigger l8 which isfixed on a shaft l9, pivoted in the base 3. Thisshaft is shown as projecting from the reverse side of the base 3 in Fig.2 and has fixed thereon a link which carries a projection 2 i. Thisprojection is arranged to seat in a recess 22 in the drive wheel 23.This wheel is pivoted on a shaft mounted in the base plate so that itmay rotate and is normally urged to rotate in a clockwise direction bythe spring 24, which is coiled about the hub 25 of the wheel and has oneend anchored to the base plate at 26. a

Thus,- when ,the projection 2! moves, out of recess 22 this wheel 23will rotate to the right until the shoulder 28 engages. the stop pin 29.It is intended that any'suitable mechanism can be driven by themovementof this wheel 23 and a gear 30 may be aflixed to the wheel in order tooperate a gear train or a rack mechanism as desired. Onthe other hand,movement of this gear may'merely release a power mechanism. In orderthat the trigger i8 may be'reset a spring 32 normally urges theprojection 2| into the recess 22 and a cam face 33 is therefore providedon the wheel 23 so that when it moves in a counter-clockwise directionthe projection 2| will be held against the wheel so that it will moveinto the recess 22, thus raising the trigger to a position ready foractuation by coin or token, as appears more fully hereinafter.

' be retainedin the trap lower end of the partition 40.

The device will in this manner be actuated by theiiith penny the same asit was actuated by the nickeL- It is to be distinctly understood thatthe denomination of these coins is merely illustrative and the relativesize. value and weights may be varied as circumstances may require. Whenthe mechanism is actuated it is of course desirable to release those.coins which are re- .tained in the trap 38 so that they will not beavailable to the next operator. These coins can by means of the supportarm 50, which is pivoted on a pin 5! carried by the housing. This armhas a heel 52 which projects into the passage below the trap 38 so thatthe coins will abut against this heel as shown in Fig. 1. The weight ofthese coins tends to move the arm 58 in a counter-clockwise directionand brings the shoulder 53 thereof-against the The am, however. has anextension thereon which projects into the narrow portion I! of thechamber so that it will be struck by a coin passing downwardly throughthe device. In Fig. 1, in dotted 'lines, the coin 1 is shown ashavingengaged the extension 55 and tilted the arm sufflciently to movethe heel 52 out of the base of the trap 38 so that the trapped coinswill be free to fall out of the trap by gravity. 7

Broadly, the invention contemplates a machine which can be actuatedeither by one or by a plurality of coins and it seems obvious that byrearrangement of the structure and the mechahism here described thedevice could be used for various combinations of coins of variousdenominations. I

What is claimed is:

1. In, apparatus of the character described to beactuated by either aplurality of small coins or a single large coin, in combination, drivemechanism urged in one direction, restraining means therefor including atrigger mechanism, means to direct the larger coin into contact withsaid trigger mechanisrn'to release said drive mechanism, means to retainone less than the required number of small coins, an entrance to saidtrigger mechanism for the next 01' said smaller coins so that saidtrigger mechanism When the. apparatus is to. be operated by a pluralityof'coins having the same value as the 0 coin I the chute 5 is continuedand curved as at. 35 so that the smaller coins such as 36 will rollalong the surface 31 on top of the switch l0.

Coin 35 is of a size to pass the stop shoulder 8 and is of a weight lessthan the weight I2.-so

that the switch ID will not be ovenbalanced. The

surface 3'! of switch 18 is so curved that it will direct these coins 36into the trap portion 38, which is formed by the wall 38 and thepartition 40 on the base 3. This trap 38 is of a size to receive apredetermined number of these small coins 36. This predetermined numberwill preferably be one less than the number of such smaller coins whichwill be the same value as the single coin 1. Thus, if the com I is anickel and coins 36 are pennies, the trap 38 will hold four pennies asshown. The fourth penny 42 provides a curved surface against which thefifth penny will strike as it rolls over the switch I 8 and in view ofthe fact that the partition 40 is of a height that it provides entrance43 to'the chamber M, the fifth penny will in this ma'nneralso may beactuated thereby to release said drive mechanism, and means actuated bysaid next coin for releasing saidcoin retaining means.

2. In apparatus of the character described, in

combination, a drive mechanism; means urging said drive mechanism in onedirection; means restraining. action of said drive mechanism; a coinactuated trip therefor; a passage into which said trip projectsyjanentrance chute for coins;

means to segregate coins of different denomination and to direct coinsof one denomination into said passage to actuate saidtrip; a trap toreceive coins of a second denomination, said trap being so conflguratedthat after the same is filled the nextcoin of said second denominationwill be directed into said passage also to actuate said trip; toreleasethe other coins from said trap.

3. In apparatus of the character described, in combination, a rotatablemember; spring means urging said member in one direction; meansincluding a release trigger for restraining rotation of said memberunder the action of said spring means; means for selectively guidinginto contact with said trigger nation upon' its insertion into means forretaining. all but the determined number'of coins of another denomitheapparatus;

and means actuated by said directed coin a coin of one denomilast of aprenation and for guiding into contact with said trigger said last coin,contact of coin and trigger operating the trigger, whereby the rotatablemember is released for rotation 'under the action of said spring means;and means operated by the said last pre-determined coin for operatingsaid retaining means and releasing the others of said pre-determinednumber of coins.

-4. A coin control for parking meters, comprising, in combination, aframe, a coin chute thereon, a switch to segregate smaller from largercoins, a trap beyond said switch for a plurality of smaller coinspassing said switch,

means for retaining said coins in said trap, a passage for the largercoins deflected by said switch, a by-pass from the top of said trap tosaid passage so that a smaller coin will be defiected into saidpassagewhen said trap is filled, trigger means in said passage to be actuatedbl! the passing of either a smaller or a larger coin through thepassage, and means operated by the passing of said coin through thepassage to release said coin retaining means.

5. A coin controlled device for parking meters comprising, incombination, a foundation plate having a chute thereon, a switch toreceive the coins entering said chute, a stop for larger coins adjacentsaid switch so that the weight of the coin will tilt said switch todeflect the coin, a

trigger device to be actuated by the deflected coin as the coin falls bygravity, a passage beyond said switch for smaller coins passing saidstop, a trap of a size to be filled by a pre-determined number ofsmaller coins, an entrance to said trigger to receive the next of saidsmaller'coins when said trap is filled so that said trigger may beactuated thereby, and means actuated by said next coin to release theother coins from said trap.

CHARLES A. TOCE. ROBERT F. BROUSSARD. WALTER HOLLAND.

